Tel: +31 20 6248786
Fax: +31 20 6207031
After three consecutive failures to secure the Games, in 1916,
1920 and 1924, the Dutch Olympic Committee announced to their government that
the Games, finally, were to be hosted in Amsterdam, in August. In return,
the government expressed their great joy for the success but when it came to
money the state said that they never accepted such a burden anyway... The only
way for the committee was then to appeal to the public and, within six months,
they managed to collect more than 30% of the money needed. It was little but
it proved to be enough of a motive to activate the powerful Dutch commercial
corporations throughout the world. Their generous sponsorings covered the rest
of the sum budgeted for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. These are the first Olympics
to include officially, that is with de Coubertin's approval, the women's track
and field. Despite de Coubertin's okaying, the baron himself, presenting reasons
of health, resigned and left the Games. From Lausanne, where he resided, he
sent his message: "The Games are a man's affair and any deviation from the ancient
Greek rules is a capital mistake".
The appearance of women in the track brought many a comment with
a tendency to ridiculing by some sportswriters. In some of the events, women
did not even finish the race and the ones who did, collapsed!
To show his admiration and to support the feminist spirit, Prince
Hendrick sang a Dutch cantata and was widely applauded!
Amsterdam's Olympics proved to be a nightmare for all the world's
big newspapers who had sent sports reporters and photographers. The nightmare
visited the newsmen in uniform when Amsterdam policemen invaded the reporter's
section, during the events, and confiscated every camera on sight. There were
many violent incidents that occurred and in one of them an Irish newsphotographer
punched a policeman and broke his nose. All this brought protests from all over
the world and there were even State Secretaries that had to intervene. The explanation:
The Dutch Olympic Committee had "sold" the photography rights to a Dutch photo
agency. It was at this agency that the newsmen had to go to, the next after
the events day, and buy the photographic material they wanted for their papers
and magazines. This is why the Amsterdam Olympics are considered to be the poorest
Olympics when photography is concerned...
Text by Dimitri N. Marcopoulos
Amsterdam 1928
Links with various Organizations' WebPages:
The Olympic Movement
American Sport Art Museum and Archives , a division of the United States Sports Academy
International Sailing Federation
Amsterdam 1928
Links with various Media's WebPages:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
British Broadcasting Corporation
1928 Amsterdam Olympics: Various WebPages
Tel: +41 43 3887878
Tel: +31 20 3981919
Tel: 0031 20 6212223
Fax: 0031 20 6275245
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